Peter Clark Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 This talk of the Vicar of Dibley reminded me of the greatest, I think, of the ecclesiastical sit-coms, All Gas and Gaiters with the incomparable Dereck Nimmo (before he lost it and had to make a living starring in Neighbours and so on). But who knows about the theme music? As I recall in starts with an inverted mordant a la BWV 565 and then there is a psuedo-baroque bit sung by what could well have been the Swingle Singers. Anyway: does anybody know who wrote it? Who played the organ and where? Who sang the vocal bits? Thanks Best Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwhodges Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 This talk of the Vicar of Dibley reminded me of the greatest, I think, of the ecclesiastical sit-coms, All Gas and Gaiters with the incomparable Dereck Nimmo (before he lost it and had to make a living starring in Neighbours and so on). But who knows about the theme music? As I recall in starts with an inverted mordant a la BWV 565 and then there is a psuedo-baroque bit sung by what could well have been the Swingle Singers. Anyway: does anybody know who wrote it? Who played the organ and where? Who sang the vocal bits? Thanks Best I can do is that the pilot episode theme was Ron Grainer, and the series music was partly Ron Grainer and partly Stanley Myers (the division now being lost). 11 of the 33 episodes survive, and so watching the DVD of them might reveal more. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Barry Oakley Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 This talk of the Vicar of Dibley reminded me of the greatest, I think, of the ecclesiastical sit-coms, All Gas and Gaiters with the incomparable Dereck Nimmo (before he lost it and had to make a living starring in Neighbours and so on). But who knows about the theme music? As I recall in starts with an inverted mordant a la BWV 565 and then there is a psuedo-baroque bit sung by what could well have been the Swingle Singers. Anyway: does anybody know who wrote it? Who played the organ and where? Who sang the vocal bits? Thanks Peter, Got to agree with you about “All Gas and Gaiters” although I do get more than a fair share of laughs from “The V of D.” I did wonder about the music because the opening introductory shots for the programme showed St Albans Cathedral with a spire appended to its squat tower. Can’t provide you with any really useful information, but I wonder if there might have been clues associating St Albans? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andrew Butler Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Peter, Got to agree with you about “All Gas and Gaiters” although I do get more than a fair share of laughs from “The V of D.” I did wonder about the music because the opening introductory shots for the programme showed St Albans Cathedral with a spire appended to its squat tower. Can’t provide you with any really useful information, but I wonder if there might have been clues associating St Albans? Was the spire not Chesterfield parish Church? (I always assumed the whole building was Chesterfield, but I can't remember....) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vox Humana Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 I'm sure it was Chesterfield. The spire there is genuinely crooked. http://www.birchimages.co.uk/galleryimages...spire%201_2.JPG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Barry Oakley Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Was the spire not Chesterfield parish Church? (I always assumed the whole building was Chesterfield, but I can't remember....) The building was definitely St Albans and I don't remember seeing the spire contortions of Chesterfield PC which I know well. I thought the spire was more Salisbury or Norwich-like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusingMuso Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 This talk of the Vicar of Dibley reminded me of the greatest, I think, of the ecclesiastical sit-coms, All Gas and Gaiters with the incomparable Dereck Nimmo (before he lost it and had to make a living starring in Neighbours and so on). But who knows about the theme music? As I recall in starts with an inverted mordant a la BWV 565 and then there is a psuedo-baroque bit sung by what could well have been the Swingle Singers. Anyway: does anybody know who wrote it? Who played the organ and where? Who sang the vocal bits? Thanks Best Peter ======================= I'm a "Father Ted" man myself.....whacky Irish humour at its very best. A wonderful parody of Irish Catholicism. MM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Farr Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 "All Gas and Gaiters" for me. Another tv reverend I loved - but in a serious role rather than a comedy - was Frank Middlemass as Herries in "To Serve Them All My Days". Now that was a wonderful serial: well acted, great production values, and quite moving. I haven't seen it in 15 years or so, I'd say, but I can still hear the school song in my head. Or at least a memory of it in my head ... And what I now hear in my head is quite Hereford-ish. But where was it actually recorded? Does anyone know? Regards (and best wishes for a happy and holy Christmas), MJF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davidb Posted December 24, 2006 Share Posted December 24, 2006 If you go on Amazon, all gas and gaiters has all its surviving episodes on dvd for £15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Roffensis Posted December 26, 2006 Share Posted December 26, 2006 "All Gas and Gaiters" for me. Another tv reverend I loved - but in a serious role rather than a comedy - was Frank Middlemass as Herries in "To Serve Them All My Days". Now that was a wonderful serial: well acted, great production values, and quite moving. I haven't seen it in 15 years or so, I'd say, but I can still hear the school song in my head. Or at least a memory of it in my head ... And what I now hear in my head is quite Hereford-ish. But where was it actually recorded? Does anyone know? Regards (and best wishes for a happy and holy Christmas), MJF Milton Abbey. It's on DVD, it's superb and well worth buying. R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajt Posted December 26, 2006 Share Posted December 26, 2006 Milton Abbey. It's on DVD, it's superb and well worth buying. R Now *that* is an acoustic to die for. My wife and I went for a walk there with a couple of other singing friends, and popped into the Abbey - we found an Oxford Tudor Anthems lying around and sang through a few. It was like having another 40 voices with us - absolutely marvellous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Roffensis Posted December 29, 2006 Share Posted December 29, 2006 Now *that* is an acoustic to die for. My wife and I went for a walk there with a couple of other singing friends, and popped into the Abbey - we found an Oxford Tudor Anthems lying around and sang through a few. It was like having another 40 voices with us - absolutely marvellous. A lovely church...... R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Clark Posted July 26, 2009 Author Share Posted July 26, 2009 I found this tonight.. http://www.televisiontunes.com/All_Gas_and_Gaiters.html P (I must get out more) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Willis Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 I found this tonight.. http://www.televisiontunes.com/All_Gas_and_Gaiters.html P (I must get out more) Ha! So should I - I've got all of the (surviving) programmes on the video set! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Richell Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 Ha! So should I - I've got all of the (surviving) programmes on the video set! No doubt the BBC bitterly regret only retaining some of the 33 tapes, because they would have been worth a fortune in DVD sales. The same thing happened to Dads Army, and many other comedy shows which could never be recreated because all the stars are now gone. Apparently it was to save money because acetate? tapes were so expensive, and they were just reused. This does not happen now, and it is also unfortunate that most recordings of great radio shows such as TAKE IT FROM HERE, and Round the Horne .were destroyed. Colin Richell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vox Humana Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 No doubt the BBC bitterly regret only retaining some of the 33 tapes Logic would lead one to hope so, but, considering it's a large corporation which no doubt suffers from the inertia of all such bodies, I suspect the actual reaction will have been more along the lines of a shrug and an "Oh well..." More to the point, I seem to recall a bit of an outcry some years ago (a faint one that ought to have been a lot stronger) about the destroying of a lot of Radio 3 archive tapes because the storage room was needed. One can only imagine what must have been lost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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